Your Guide to Town Meeting 2013

With Town Meeting just around the corner, we want to make sure you, the residents of Merrimack, know what you're being asked to vote on and are armed with the best information when you hit the polls on April 9.

Below are important dates and information regarding the upcoming deliberative session and voting day. There are also links to stories about town and school budgets and warrant articles. We'll be adding plenty of information as the next several weeks pass, including candidate profiles, deliberative session coverage and more, so bookmark this page and make sure to check it frequently for new information.

Important Dates

Monday, Feb. 18: Bond Hearing on warrant article for construction of a new Special Services and Central Office consolidated building for SAU 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Matthew Thornton Room in Town Hall.

Wednesday, Feb. 20: Filing period opens for town and school district offices (8:30 a.m.) More info on the filing period here.

Friday, March 1: Filing period closes at the end of the business day (4:30 p.m.)

Wednesday, March 6:  School district deliberative session, 7 p.m., James Mastricola Upper Elementary School All-Purpose Room.

Wednesday, March 13: Town deliberative session, 7 p.m., James Mastricola Upper Elementary School All-Purpose Room.

Monday, March 25: The Exchange Club of Merrimack will hold its annual candidates' night from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Matthew Thornton Room (formerly known as the Town Hall meeting room). The event is open to the public which will have the opportunity to submit written questions to the candidates for School Board and Town Council. The meeting will be broadcast live on Merrimack-TV and will be repeated several times before election day.

Tuesday, April 9: Election Day. Visit the polls at the James Mastricola Upper Elementary School All-Purpose Room. Vote for town and school district offices and on the budgets and other warrant articles.

WHO'S RUNNING?

To see a full list of volunteer opportunities for Merrimack's non-elected boards committees, commissions, click here.

Town Council (two seats, three years)

Dan Dwyer, David Yakuboff

Ethics Committee (two seats, three years)

n/a

Library Trustees (one seat, three years)

Richard Barnes

Library Trustees (one seat, two years)

Jennifer Jobin

Trustee of the Trust Funds (one seat, three years)

n/a

School Board (two seats, three years)

Shannon Barnes, Gary Krupp and Chris Ortega

School Planning & Building Committee (two seats, three years)

Gage Perry and Stanley Heinrich

School District Budget Committee (four seats, three years)

Alicia Nelson, Lisa Mooney and Stanley Heinrich

School District Moderator (one seat, three years)

Lynn Christensen

School District Clerk (one seat, three years)

Pat Heinrich

School District Treasurer (one seat, three years)

Richard Hastings

TOWN

March 14: Annual Deliberative Session Wraps in 29 Minutes

March 13: Voters to Meet at Town Deliberative Session Tonight

March 1: School Board to be Only Contest on Ballot

Feb. 20: Yakuboff Making Another Go at Town Council

Feb. 15:

Jan. 22: Town Council Votes to Recommend $28.7M Budget

Dec. 7: First Look at 2013-14 Budget Shows 11-Cent Tax Rate Increase

From the Town website: Look at the full proposed budget, the capital reserve funds and more.

SCHOOL

March 7:

March 6:

March 5: Voters to Decide on $1.5M Project for New SAU Offices

March 1: School Board to be Only Contest on Ballot

Jan. 23: School Board Approves $65.9M 2013-14 Budget

Jan. 22: School Board to Vote 2013-14 Budget Tonight

From the SAU 26 website: Look at the proposed budget and how it's broken down. Click on the School Budget Info Box in the center of the page just under the banner.

OPINION

Letter: Krupp Would Provide 'Exceptional Guidance' on School Board

Letter: Re-Elect Ortega and Barnes to School Board

Letter:

Letter: Elect Krupp to School Board

Letter: Davis Powell Endorses Barnes for School Board

Blog: Krupp for School Board

Letter: Barnes Has Proven to be Valuable Board Member

Letter: Barnes Helping Improve Education for Best Value

Letter: Markwell: Vote Krupp for Education in Merrimack

Letter: Vote Yes on School Warrant Article 2

Blog: Contract Wrong for Teachers & Taxpayers

Letter:

Letter: Barnes Cares About What's on Minds of Voters

Letter: Rep. Peterson Asks Voters to Support Krupp

Letter:

Letter:

Candidacy announcement: Barnes Asks for Your Vote on April 9

Letter: Vaillancourt Endorses Barnes for School Board

Candidacy announcement: Chris Ortega Seeking Your Vote on April 9

Letter: Vote Krupp for School Board

Candidacy announcement: Krupp Asks for Your Vote for School Board

Blog: We Need a Raise in Teacher Pay

Blog: A Time to Build

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